Which to use
“crass” is an adjective and “crisis” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,381
- “crass” frequency rank
- #2,384
- “crisis” frequency rank
- 32765
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crass | crisis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Coarse; crude; unrefined or insensitive; lacking discrimination or taste. | A crucial or decisive point or situation; a turning point. |
Where the eye mixes crass and crisis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. crass runs 5 letters (CCVCC) against crisis's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: crass vs crisis
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: crass is /kɹæs/ while crisis is /ˈkɹaɪsɪs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32765, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crass is recorded at frequency rank #30,381, classified as anadj, pronounced /kɹæs/. crisis is at rank #2,384, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɹaɪsɪs/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 32765, this pair ranks #335,098 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of crass vs crisis
Shared letters: crs. Private to "crass": a. Private to "crisis": i.
"crass" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "crisis" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "crass" and "crisis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "crass" or "crisis" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "crass" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crisis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #335,098 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crass" and "crisis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "crass vs Crist". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #335,098 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.